Bill Belichick’s Affinity for Greg Schiano, Rutgers Should Be Questioned

It is rare for a team to draft three or more players from the same school. The only other team to do so in the 2013 draft was the Miami Dolphins, who drafted three players from Florida.

At least Florida won 11 games last season while playing in the nation’s best conference (SEC) and with arguably the nation’s toughest schedule.

Rutgers, on the other hand, went 9-4 while playing in a significantly weaker football conference (Big East) and never playing a ranked opponent all year. The allure of those Scarlet Knights players is further diminished by the fact that Schiano did not draft of his own players for the Buccaneers.

When asked about drafting three Rutgers players following the draft, Belichick didn’t hide the fact that it was influenced by Schiano, according to the post-draft press conference transcript on the Patriots’ official website:

“I’ve known Coach Schiano for quite a while. I’d say the players he recruits and the program he runs is in a lot of ways similar to what we do. So the fact that he’s recruited those kids four to five years ahead of when they come into this league and they’ve been in a program that’s, in a lot of ways, probably similar to ours, then it’s probably not that surprising that we would like some of the kids he’s produced, both talent-wise and total makeup.”

The Patriots made another trade with the Buccaneers late in the 2013 NFL draft, sending running back Jeff Demps and a seventh-round pick for running back LeGarrette Blount. In another somewhat unusual move, the Patriots claimed Akeem Shavers, an undrafted free agent running back from Purdue, off waivers Tuesday one day after he was waived by the Buccaneers.

Belichick, Schiano and members of their coaching staffs are also reportedly meeting with one another this month to discuss “coaching topics and techniques,” according to Sports Illustrated. The two teams will also be meeting for a third consecutive year of joint practices before the two teams meet in the preseason. The latter would not typically be unusual, except for the fact that the teams will also meet in Week 3 of the regular season.

It’s not that Bill Belichick’s strategy isn’t sensible. It makes sense to draft players who were taught by an NFL coach and ran a defensive scheme similar to what the Patriots run, which will make it easier for them to acclimate and contribute early.

Still, the strategy of drafting players based upon collegiate coaching and schematic ties is an unusual one.

It is rare even for coaches who came directly from the collegiate ranks to draft many of their own players — neither Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone nor Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly drafted any of the players they coached directly last season, at Syracuse and Oregon respectively.

If they do not see the value in drafting players they have directly coached, why should Belichick do it when the only person on the Patriots’ staff with direct experience working with them is a coaching assistant?

There was a time where we may have simply written this off as an instance of Belichick knowing more than his peers, and if he proves right on his questionable draft strategy, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

Keep in mind, however, that two of the NFL’s en vogue teams are both coached by former collegiate coaches. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll both ran similar schemes at Stanford and USC, respectively, as they do in the NFL.

Harbaugh’s 49ers have drafted no Stanford players in his first three drafts. Carroll’s Seahawks have drafted just two USC players, none before the sixth round, in his first four drafts.

The Patriots won’t have the option of selecting Schiano’s players in many more drafts — the 2014 NFL draft could be the final draft featuring many Rutgers players who worked closely with Schiano and Belichick — but this is not exactly a new strategy for the Patriots.

Belichick has been known to draft players in numbers from programs whose coaches he has strong relationships with — Nick Saban’s Alabama and Urban Meyer’s Florida come to mind — and although those players came from stronger talent pools than Rutgers, it may be time to move on from this strategy if it results in passing upon value.

The Patriots have often been trend setters in the draft. Many other teams have followed the Patriots’ lead in trading down to acquire more picks for future value, notably the 49ers and the Cleveland Browns. Browns general manager Michael Lombardi previously worked as Belichick’s director of player personnel from 1992-1995 — the same role as Caserio — when both were with the Browns.

In this case, it’s time for the Patriots to follow the lead of their colleagues, and not just Schiano’s Buccaneers. Rather than focusing upon what coach each player had in college, they should focus on drafting the best talent for Belichick and the coaching staff to mold.

28 Responses to “Bill Belichick’s Affinity for Greg Schiano, Rutgers Should Be Questioned”

Guys Rutgers had a top 5 defense last year and has had a top 20 defense generally for the last 8 years. It is the defense that gets them wins. Last year, the offense was ranked ~ 110th in the country. If they had any semblance of an offense, they would have been 11-2 and in the Sugar Bowl. Even without the offense, they were a couple plays away from 11-2.

Look at the defensive draft picks this year (or the UFAs) or any year over the last 7 years and you will see solid football players, NFL ready, hard working, and no character issues.

B4 I RIP INTO BILL BELICHICK I WANT TO REMIND EVERYBODY THAT I DO BELEIVE HE IS THE BEST X’S AND O’S COACH OF ALL TIME!! HE PUTS AVERGE N BELOW AVERAGE PLAYERS INTO POSITIONS 2 HAVE TURNOVERS WHICH SAVES HIS BACK SIDE OVER N OVER ON HIS BELOW AVERAGE TALENT!! FIRST THE DEFENSE HIGHTOWER IS MAYBE AN ABOVE AVERGE PLAYER, HOWEVER HE WAS DRAFTED CUZ HE WAS COACHED UP BY SABAN!! NOT CUZ HE HAS ELITE NFL TALENT!! ME N ALL THE ITHER HOPEFULS JUST NEED 2 KEEP IN MIND WHEN EVALUATORS TALK ABOUT THE TOP5 YOUNG 4-3 LB’S N 3-4 ILB’S HIGHTOWER ALTHOUGH AN OK AND I MEAN ONLY OK PLAYER IS NEVER!! AND I MEAN NEVER MENTIONED!! NOT AS TOP5 OR EVEN HONORABLE MENTION!! A 4-3 OR ILB SHOULD BE EXPLOSIVE!! FLASH ON THE SCENE N HAVE ELITE CLOSING BURST!!! HIGHTOWER ALTHOUGH GOOD LONG SPEED 4 A GUY 265LBS DOESNT HAVE THESE ELEITE QUALITES THAT MAKE ELITE LB’S NO EXPLSOIVE CLOSING ABILITY

OK OK OK HERE’S THE DEAL!! FIRST OFF I WAS THE FIRST 2 PUBLICLY CRITICIZE BILL BELICHICK’S DRAFTING BACKIN 2009 AND I WAS HEAVILY CHASTIZED 4 IT!!! I WAS IN LONELY COMPANY IN 2009 WHEN I SAID OTHER THAN VOLLMER IT WAS A TERRIBLE DRAFT AND SERIOUS NEEDS IN THE POSITION’S THAT GREATLY EFFECT THE PASSING GAME OF TODAYS NFL WAS IGNORED WHEN ELITE TALENT WAS THERE 4 THE TAKING!! IN TODAYS NFL PASS RUSHERS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER CUZ NO MZTTER HOW GOOD A CORNER IS HE CANT COVER ALL DAY!!!! AND PASSRUSH WAS CLEARLY A SERIOUS NEED 4 US VERY SERIOUS!!! BILL PASSED ON 3 PLAYERS I WAS BANGING THE TABLE 4 PAUL KRUGER CONNOR BARWIN AND MICHAEL JOHNSON ALL OF WHOM JUST CASHED IN!!!!! BUT WHAT DID BILL SAY?? HE DIDINT REALLY LIKE THIS DRAFT!!!OUCH!! WHATS MORE!!?? HE TRADED OUT OF THE PICK THAT BECAME CLAY MATTHEWS!! DOUBLE OUCH!!! INSTEAD HE TOOK BRACE WHO WAS ALONG 4 THE RIDE WITH THE ELITE BJ RAJI THE COVERING DEFICIENT PAT CHUNG AND DAVIS!! THEN IN 2010 HE TRADES DOWN AGAIN IN ROUND ONE AND SURRENDERS THE PICK THAT BECAME DEZ BRYANT!!! ONE OF THE 4 MOST TALENTED N DYNAMIC WR’S IN THE NFL AND THE WEAPON TOM BRADY HAS BEEN LACKING HIS WHOLE CAREER!!!! OTHER THAN THE YR WE HAD MOSS. IF WE HAD CLAYMAKER N BRYANT WE WOULD HAVE AT LEAST 2 MORE RING ALONE AT LEAST!!!! OR BRYANT AN ANY OF THE 3 TOP EDGE RUSHERS HE PASSED UP ON IN 2009 WHEN IT WAS A HUGE NEED 4 US!!! THAT MAKES THE DRAFTING THAT MUCH WORSE!! BELICHCIK IS THE BEST PLAYER COACH N SCHEMER IN THE NFL BUT HIS DECISIONS OVER PLAYER PERSONNEL SHOULD BE REMOVED OR AT LEAST DECREASED!! I BELEIVE BILL HAS THE KNOWLEDGE 2 DRAFT BETTER BUT HE NEEDS SOMETHING 2 MOTIVATE HIM LIKE REMOVING SOME OF HIS DRAFTING AUTHORITY!! BRADY IS BY FAR THE BEST QB IN THE NFL!! ANYBODY THINK NOT?? HE HAS PUT UP AS GOOD N EFFICIENT 3’S AS ANY QB IN THE NFL OVER LAST 7 YRS N HE HAS DONE THIS WITH WES WELKER WHO WAS NOBODY B4 BRADY THROWING HIM THE BALL DEION BRANCH RECHE CALDWELL N A LIST OF BELOW AVERAGE WR’S IMAGINE IF BRADY HAD A DEZ BRYANT OR AT LEAST AN ERIC DECKER AND STEVE JOHNSON OR COLSTON!!?? HE WOULD SET PASSING RECORDS THAT WOULD RARELY EVEN BE THREATENED IF EVER!! LIKE 55 TD’S CLOSE 2 6000 YRDS!!! BILLS EGE N BAD DRAFTING IS DESTROYING BRADY’S PRIME AND BRADY HAS COVERED UP BELICHICKS TERRIBLE TERRIBLE DRAFTING!!!!! MORE ON THIS LATER

The same can be said of his coaching staff..josh Boyer was a horrible coach in college and an even worse Cb coach in pros..Dc @south Dakota school of mining and tech, with one win, then secondary coach @ Bryant, with 500 record. BB needs former college coaches with big time experience. Read The War Room, great book that shows that when he overrules scouts, the players fail

So the two trips to the Super Bowl, 2 trips to the AFC Championships and annual excellence don’t count?

Are the Packers going to (not winning, going to) the super bowl every year? The Manning led Colts, the Bronco’s, the Ravens, the Steelers?

One not on 49ers & Seahawks; they both have extremely young talented players……on rookie contracts. They need to go all in now, before they have to pony up hard cash to Kapernick & Wilson. When they do, watch the exit of a bunch of their young, soon to be elite talent: Aldon Smith, a few OLinemen, Richard Sherman, etc, etc.

Part of the reason BB moves down is because he knows he can get his guy(s) lower in the draft at a cheaper price.

Part of the team building in the NFL now is getting value. The quickest way to do that is by bringing in young, cheaper guys.

I guess Nepotism runs deep in the NFL: Steve Belichick on the Patriot coaching staff: what a joke. With his background, if his name were Steve Smith, the only way he could get into the stadium would be to buy a ticket. Harmon may or may not make it, but they could have secured his services as a UFA and would have an extra 3rd rounder contributing. BB is patronizing the Rutgers football program. Rather, he should be supporting his draft staff 100%. Hopefully his arrogance will not keep the Pats from a SB that doesn’t have an ** (spy gate & tuck rule).

It seems pretty arrogant to assume that Steve Belichick doesn’t have a metric buttload more football knowledge than the average “joe”, or at least as much as any other candidate for his entry-level position. As far as the “nepotism” goes, it’s not as if he became an instant partner in his daddy’s law firm. He’s still just a grunt learning the ropes of the biz.

Also, 3rd-rounders don’t often contribute a lot immediately, so, if Harmon doesn’t, it won’t be particularly unusual. Assuming that Harmon would otherwise been undrafted and available is foolish since we have no way of knowing what other teams may have been interested. In any case, none of the 14 safeties taken after Harmon seemed any more worthy and a couple of those taken ahead of Harmon seemed even less so. Similar to the Tavon Wilson situation in 2012. San Diego had the next pick after the Pats and had also held a PW with Wilson. And, none of the 16 safeties after Wilson (including the guy that SD ended up taking) did squat as rookies.

Rusell Wilson third rounder , did a fair amount instead we have Tavon Wilson and Duron Harmon . Could have had Rusell Wilson and Barrett Jones. He needs to trust scouts and stay with what he knows best coach players.

I’m fairly certain that if the Patriots had drafted a QB with a third-round pick in 2012, most of the commenters on this site would have gone ballistic.

But you are correct, we could have had Russell Wilson instead of Tavon Wilson. Of course, we also landed Chandler Jones, Dont’a Hightower, and Alfonzo Dennard in that draft, in addition to signing Brandon Bolden and Justin Francis as UDFA. Even if Wilson never pans out, and Jake Bequette and Nate Ebner are cut tomorrow, that draft has already generated three starters. Hard to believe that it could have been much better; in fact, by my count, the only teams that even came close to that level of productivity were the Colts and Vikings, with the Packers and Redskins a bit further off. I wouldn’t trade the Patriots 2012 class for any of those teams’ classes, nor the last decade or so of drafting history for any of their track records.

If your complaint is that the draft wasn’t perfect, I would probably agree (although grading a draft after a single year is a foolish exercise). But it really isn’t much of a complaint at all.

Leavening your sweeping, ballistic pronouncements with reason and, y’know, actual football knowledge doesn’t make anyone a “Patriots lap dog”. But, it is true that when you’re standing in the North pole, everyone else is South of you.

Numbers do not lie…here is what I looked at when pondering why all those Rutgers DB’s were drafted…check out the link below. Rutgers is ranked in the top 5 in all of college football for the past four years in takeaways

Here’s a look at which teams have accumulated the most takeaways over the last four seasons:

Verdict: McCourty was a WTF pick who panned out. Francis was solid for an UDFA. The rest either didn’t pan out or we don’t know yet.

All in all, out of all of these “Belichick buddies” picks, the batting average is… Probably about average. Clearly he does well with undrafted guys who come from those schools, but that might be because he’s giving them an extra look. One notable thing is that the only guy out of all of these who had a work ethic problem we knew about was Jackson (and maybe T.J. Turner, too). He at least gets full effort from these private recommendations.

I understand people freaking out about Harmon because he’s unknown, but Bill’s done okay with these “friends of BB” picks. Would anyone be shocked if Harmon turned out to be another James Sanders type? I wouldn’t. These dull-but-dependable players are really needed, and he’s gotten a lot of that type of player through his pipeline picks.

Agreed in principle, although Hobbs went to Iowa State. I’d also add that McCourty wasn’t really out of nowhere–he was graded as an early-second round pick, if I recall, so late-20s wasn’t much of a stretch for him.

I think we are holding the Patriots and BB to very high standards. They made it to the Superbowl in 2011 and to the AFC championship game in 2012. That puts them in a very select group of teams (with the Ravens and 49ers). We also seem to focus on misses and what players we could have drafted there (Clay Matthews and Mike Wallace in 2009) way too much. As AM pointed out, Mankins (and Vollmer as well, IIRC) was also a reach at the time, but almost nobody remembers that now. BB is also 5/5 with his first round picks since 2008 (Mayo, McCourty, Solder, Jones, Hightower). He found some starters in the lower rounds (Hernandez, Dennard) or as UDFA (Wendell). He does make some odd choices and some of them do not work out. The thing is, he’s not the only one making mistakes: the 49ers took AJ Jenkins in the first round last year (barely saw the field), the Seahawks took James Carpenter (over drafted) and Bruce Irvin (way overdrafted) in 2011 and 2012.
tl;dr – BB may not be the best at drafting, but he’s above average. The Pats had 10+ wins since 2003, so he’s doing something right.

I understand the point of the article, and agree insofar as you’re saying that it is a bad idea for Belichick–or any head coach–to overrule scouts based on personal relationships with college programs. That being said, I think it is a reach to term this a draft “strategy,” and I would caution against reading too much into the numbers from this year. Belichick’s comment about the Rutgers program was in response to a specific question about what he saw in Rutgers players, and strikes me as a generic talking point rather than a look into draft strategy. He could have said the same about a dozen other programs.

Really, this is a question about one single data point in the last several drafts. As you mention, Ryan and Beauharnais look like great choices, and each was drafted in the range he was expected to go (Beauharnais a little underdrafted, if anything). The only issue is the Harmon pick, which seems to have been a reach. If he was overdrafted solely because Belichick likes Greg Schiano’s work at Rutgers, then that is only a bad thing insofar as the personal relationship clouds an accurate assessment of the program. On that score, Rutgers did have one of the best defenses in the country last year, even if they were in a generally weak conference. But if the relationship with the coach simply gives more insight into a particular player, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As Hunter points out, it didn’t hurt with a number of Florida players, nor with Logan Mankins (also “overdrafted” out of Pat Hill’s Fresno State program) or James Sanders (same school, same year). It is also worth pointing out that Belichick has spent exactly one high round draft pick on a Nick Saban player (Dont’s Hightower, last year) and none on any Charlie Weis, Kirk Ferentz, or Bill O’Brien player. If his purported “love the program, love the player” approach is indeed a strategy, it is a very inconsistently applied one. I think it is more likely that Harmon got the benefit of the doubt because of his intangibles, not that the board was swept aside to make room for Rutgers players.

On one final note, I would take Pauline’s report with a grain of salt. I am certain he is reporting the information he has received, but I’m always skeptical of after-the-fact draft reporting–not one team or scout will lay claim to Harmon now that he looks like a reach, but if he performs very well, they will be coming out of the woodwork in two years saying that they had him graded as a fourth-rounder.

I’m just curious if a similar article was written in 2010 with all of the Florida players drafted. Very similar, with Spikes viewed as a solid pick, Hernandez a steal, and Cunningham being the WTF selection.

Also, has Belichick ever had a draft that WASN’T a head scratcher? In the past 6 drafts (not including 2013), the team has made 56 selections, and only 23 are still on the team. That number will likely be closer to 20 after training camp. 2009 was disgusting, with only 2 of the 12 picks still here.

I’ve learned not to worry about how the man drafts, and focus on how he coaches the team that he eventually puts in place.

Intesting points, however, Bill always looks at players with more in mind than just physical ability. Bill knew these Rutgers players in person, and he places alot on a players ability to understand,lean, and adapt that does not show-up in scouting reports. I missed on all my Patriot draft picks , for the first time in 3 years,, but I rarely get to meet players in person to evaluate. Rutger’s Deffense was very good the past few years, which means more than one player is good.

overall, i agree that: “Rather than focusing upon what coach each player had in college, they should focus on drafting the best talent available for Belichick and the coaching staff to mold”

however, i dont agree with the criticism that it might not be worth taking a player if their own coach did not take that player.
because, heck, somebody has to take the player, right??
just about all the great players that have been drafted were not drafted by their previous college coach, and yet they turned out great.
now, if you get too many, just cause you like the coach or the system, then, yeah, that has a higher percentage to result in failed draft picks.
bottom line is we don’t know yet, and we won’t know for a while yet how these players will work out.
i hope they do well and they bring home that elusive 4th ring….go pats!

Valid points, Its obvious he will take players from a program he has close ties with the Head Coach. Some of these pay off. I would look over the next few years that players from Penn State and Ohio State will be the preference.